Kellie and Brad Ch. 04

Jennifer was chasing after Heather, who had bolted out the door after Anita so venomously insulted her. Heather appeared oblivious to anyone around her, and more than one person had to take evasive action to avoid being bowled over. Jennifer felt people staring and gawking at the two of them running through the hotel, and it suddenly made her feel very self-conscious.

Heather sped past the front desk and towards the elevators, apparently heading for their room. But she ignored the elevators and ran up the stairwell instead. Jennifer found herself glad that their room was on the fourth floor and not the twentieth.

Jennifer watched Heather reach their room, use the electronic card key to open it up, and, just before Jennifer could reach it, slam the door shut behind her. She cursed under her breath, wondering just what had gotten into her.

She pounded on the door. "Heather, come on! Dammit open the door right now!!"

After a couple of minutes the door opened and a tearful Heather let Jennifer in before slumping back down on the bed and crying some more. Jennifer would normally feel sorry for Heather when she was in this state, but this time she was so confused by her friend's strange behaviour that it left her frustrated and searching for answers.

"What the hell's going on here?" she snapped.

"God Jen, don't be so dense!" Heather replied incredulously. "You heard what Anita said!"

"So what? Do you think any of us put any stock into what that bitch says?"

"Doesn't matter. We... we have to tell them. There's no other way."

"What? Tell who what? What are you talking about?!"

"Dammit Jen you know exactly what I mean! We have to tell Kellie, Sandra and Amber the truth!"

"Christ Heather, how many times have we talked about this?! Don't go off and do something stupid just because someone insults you!"

"Oh, so it's stupid how I feel about you? It's stupid for me to want to say something about it? Is that how you feel?!"

The whole situation was spiralling way out of control, much to Jennifer's dismay. She closed her eyes and counted to ten before feeling ready enough to speak without flying off the handle. "I'm sorry Heather. I didn't mean for it to come out that way. It's just..."

Heather interrupted, but her anger had faded and her features softened again. "I know Jen. It's OK. I didn't mean to be so angry with you. But... I just can't do this anymore. I have to tell them. It can't wait anymore. Please... don't try and stop me."

With that, Heather dug out her cell phone.

*******

She had always looked up to her sister.

Amber Janik was pretty typical for a young girl who has an older sister. She idolized Jennifer and wanted to do everything that she did. From hairstyles to clothes to activities, if Jennifer tried it first, Amber would soon follow. They often dressed to look like twins, and some people thought they actually were. When Jennifer left for her first day of school, Amber cried all day, not understanding why she couldn't join her sister. It was a story Jennifer never tired of telling, and Amber would often pretend to be bothered by this, though she always smiled on the inside every time she heard it.

The desire to be just like her sister was the main reason why Amber got into curling in the first place. Mr. and Mrs. Janik were avid curlers and wanted to show their children the joys of the sport. They signed Jennifer up for lessons when she was eight. Once six-year old Amber heard about this, she begged and pleaded to be signed up as well. Inevitably, she got her wish. She struggled at first at such a young age, even with the junior rocks the kids used, but Jennifer loved it, so Amber was bound and determined to love it just as much, sticking with the sport at a time most kids in similar situations would have quickly dropped out.

Jennifer was happy to let Amber tag along and do the same things she did, until she grew into her pre-teen and young teen years. For a while she tolerated Amber, but soon she grew resentful of her little sister refusing to give her space and let her be alone with her friends. Amber was hurt by this rejection and this led to several arguments between the two.

But time passed and they both matured as they grew older. In this time they got over their sibling rivalry phase, and their relationship grew stronger again. Jennifer loved her little sister very much, and Amber continued to look up to her older sister and adopt her as a role model.

Amber learned a lot from her older sibling, and most of the time Jennifer was only too happy to pass on what knowledge she had to her younger sister. From curling, to school subjects, to their futures, sometimes even to just life in general, Amber would lean heavily on Jennifer's knowledge and prior experience as she carved out her own path in the world.

What was curious to Amber was that the one subject in which she didn't get a lot of guidance from her sister was that of boys. And it was the one subject for which she wanted guidance the most.

She didn't think it was because Jennifer was unwilling to help. Rather she seemed to be very inexperienced in that subject, surprisingly so. So Amber had to rely on other sources of information about boys; her mother to a limited extent (not because of relationship problems, but she didn't really want to tell her parents everything about her personal life!), her friends, and her own sense of experimentation.

And she did experiment some. Boys, and now men, fascinated her. She wasn't promiscuous by any means, but she enjoyed her fair share of sexual dalliances. Amber now had a steady boyfriend in her life who kept her very satisfied, sexually and otherwise.

The fact that Jennifer never seemed to have her own string of boyfriends struck Amber as very strange. She thought Jennifer was very pretty; she was a little bit taller than Amber, and her breasts were a little bit bigger, her legs a little bit longer, her butt a little bit rounder. So, despite her best efforts to avoid the thought, and despite not suffering herself in the looks department, sometimes Amber couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy over her sister's appearance.

So her appearance wasn't the problem. It also wasn't for the lack of boys trying. They tried every approach known to man to get dates with Jennifer, but she rebuffed them all at virtually every turn. Whenever Amber asked her about it, she would say things like it wasn't the right time, he wasn't the right guy, and so on and so forth.

Over time, Amber started to have some ideas and suspicions as to why her older sister didn't have experience with boys or men. One day, she had her suspicions confirmed.

The events that had transpired so far today led her to think of that incident as she stood in the hotel room Jennifer was sharing with Heather. They were on one side of the room, and she was flanked by Sandra and Kellie on the other.

Heather broke the awkward silence. "I'm sure you're all wondering what's just happened. There's something I need to tell you... actually it's something I should have told you a long time ago, but it just sort of happened to be triggered by what Anita said..."

Kellie interrupted her. "Heather, please, stop right there. I'm not angry at how you reacted. I think we all understand the effect her words can have, if we let them. But I think we need to learn to ignore what she says because she's just trying to get under our skin. What she does is wrong, but she's obviously not going to stop anytime soon, so we have to learn not to let it affect us."

"Thing is, skip," Heather replied, "this time, she's only half wrong."

Kellie blinked in confusion. "What? What do you mean?"

Heather took a deep breath before speaking again. "She called me a lezzie slut, right? I actually am one of those two things."

Another deep breath.

"I am a lesbian."

A hush descended over the room. Jennifer watched for any signs of reaction from Kellie, Sandra and Amber. None were visible just yet; she suspected they were still trying to digest this new information. Still, Jennifer found herself marvelling at Heather's inner strength at her attempt to turn an ugly scene into something positive. Her heart went out to Heather, and she felt her own fears and concerns melting away.

Not wanting to leave her hanging any longer, Jennifer put her arm over Heather's shoulders and kissed her on the cheek.

"I have something I need to say as well. I've known that Heather is a lesbian for some time, because she's been in love with another woman for a couple of years now."

She scanned the room again and took her own deep breath.

"Me. I'm a lesbian too."

Heather smiled at Jennifer's admission. A single tear rolled down her cheek. She turned to give her lover a brief but passionate kiss and stayed firm in her embrace.

Jennifer hoped for a reaction from somebody... anybody... soon, because the suspense was killing her. She knew she and Heather were dropping quite the bombshells on the rest of their teammates, but she wanted to know their thoughts so she could figure out how to deal with them.

It was Amber who reacted first, but not in the way Jennifer was expecting.

Her little sister laughed.

It wasn't a mocking laugh, but a soft yet knowing one.

"What's so funny, sis?" Jennifer asked.

"I was just thinking," Amber replied, in her own inimitable cheerful fashion, "it's about damn time! God, I thought you'd never admit the truth! Talk about living in denial!"

Jennifer was stunned. How could Amber have known? Wasn't she careful about hiding this from everyone in her life? "How... how did you know?" she finally asked.

Amber rolled her eyes, but her knowing smile never left her face. "Duh! Jen? I am your sister, remember? I've known you all my life. I probably know you better than anyone else in the world, even better than Heather does. Well, except for the sex part. Obviously!"

She shook her head and continued. "But anyway, I guess I got the idea in my head when you were about eighteen and I was sixteen. I started to realize then that you rarely went out with boys even though you're so pretty they should have been lined up around the block to be with you."

Jennifer smiled and blushed at her younger sister's words, but she let Amber keep speaking.

"I couldn't figure out why until I started noticing how you looked at girls, I could see you checking them out the way I check out guys! Then once you started university, you spent even more time with Heather than you did before, and of course being BFF's you already spent a lot of time together! And I could see the look in your eyes when you were with her, it's the same look you have now, a look of real love. Not just friendship love but love on every level, sexual, emotional, everything! You may have tried to fool around with Heather in private, and you may have tried to hide the true nature of your relationship with her from everyone else, but you can't fool me!"

"Wow, little sis, you figured all that out on your own? I'm impressed."

Now Amber looked a little sheepish. "Well... that and I did have a little help. I did... uh, see and hear you two... uh, doing it one day."

Both Heather and Jennifer's eyes widened in shock. "What?!" they yelled in unison.

"Please don't be mad with me!" Amber pleaded. "It wasn't on purpose. It was one day a couple of summers ago, I was out shopping with my friend Stephanie but her mom called her away for some family thing, I don't know what. I had nothing else to do so I came home, probably about a couple hours earlier than you two expected. Anyway, I heard some noises when I got home; it made me kind of nervous so I walked upstairs slowly and tried to keep quiet so I could investigate. Jen, you had left your bedroom door open just a crack... you probably figured no one would be home for a while so you weren't as careful as you probably were usually. Anyway, you two were on the bed and naked, and Jen your head was down by Heather's... well, you know, and it was kind of obvious what you were doing."

Amber then looked at Heather with a smirk. "Jen must have been doing a number on you, girl, 'cause you started screaming loud enough to alert the whole neighbourhood!"

Heather's face turned a deep crimson and her hands covered her open mouth, her embarrassment there for all to see.

"Anyway, Jen," Amber said, "I promise I went straight to my bedroom as soon as I could after seeing that. I don't want you to think I stared and watched the whole time like a pervert. Besides, I needed time to let what I saw sink in. I mean, I was pretty sure what was going on but it's another thing to see your theory confirmed in action. Not to mention seeing your own sister have sex, I can't lie, that did weird me out a bit."

Jennifer just slowly nodded at first, trying to make sense of what Amber was saying, which wasn't easy when she went a mile-a-minute like she was doing now. "So, wait," she finally said, "you knew all this time and didn't say anything?"

"Well, what could I say? I wasn't sure how to bring up the subject with you. I didn't think I could say anything until you opened up and admitted the truth, and you never seemed ready to do so until now. I'm not sure how I could have talked to you without scaring you or putting you off, and I can only imagine how angry you'd be if I told anyone else when you weren't ready to come out!"

"But, I don't understand. You're not sad, or upset, or angry at me?"

"Don't be silly Jen! Why would I be? I guess if anything I could be disappointed that you didn't feel you could confide in me sooner... but I guess I can kind of understand why, and anyway it might be more my fault than yours."

Jennifer bowed her head for a moment, and when she raised it Amber was surprised to see them well up with tears. "I'm sorry Amber. I thought maybe you'd hate me or think of me as a freak because I am a lesbian."

It broke Amber's heart to see her sister so upset. She immediately got up and hugged Jennifer tightly. "No, no Jen, don't say that, don't even think that, please! I love you, Jen! I always will. I've always looked up to you; you're my smart, strong, brave, beautiful big sister! You've always been there for me and have helped me in so many ways. Nothing can change how much I love you, big sis! It doesn't matter to me that you're a lesbian. I'm just happy you are in love, and that you finally were ready to admit this to us and can start living your life without any more secrets."

Amber gave her sister an extra squeeze, released the hug and then approached Heather.

"Heather," she said, "I know you're a good person, you've been a good friend to Jen for a long time. But now that I know that you're not just friends, but lovers too, I'm even happier you're a part of Jen's life. You're so good to her, and I can tell Jen loves you so much. Thank you for all you've done for her. I hope you two can stay together for a long time."

Heather pulled both Amber and Jennifer together and gave both sisters a big hug, saying "Thanks Amber. You're a very special young woman and a great and very understanding sister. Don't worry, you're not going to be rid of me that easily!" She then reached over to Jennifer and kissed her. "I love you, Jen."

"I love you too, Heather," replied Jennifer.

The three ladies sighed happily together. Then they felt two more join them in their embrace.

"Oh!" Amber squeaked. "Sorry, Sandra! Sorry, skip! In all that family drama, I almost forgot you two were here!"

"That's OK," answered Kellie. "We didn't want to interrupt the moment."

Jennifer and Heather held hands together and looked at their other two teammates. "We need to know you're both OK with this, too," Jennifer said. "We're so glad and relieved that Amber accepts us for who we are, but both of you are very special to us too, and we need to know what you think."

Sandra spoke up. "Don't worry, it makes no difference to me what you two do together in private. You're still my friends and teammates, and that will never change."

Everyone now looked at Kellie, who smiled back at all of them. "Jen, Heather, you two are special to me. You are wonderful women and great friends to me, and you being lovers doesn't change that one bit. I'm happy you confided in us, for your own sake as much as ours. First, you can be free to express your love for each other around us. Why shouldn't you have that same joy that people like Brad and I have? Also, I can only guess that this must be a huge burden off your shoulders."

The relief was evident in Heather and Jennifer's faces. "Like you wouldn't believe!" Jennifer exclaimed. "There are still other people we have to share this with, but as long as Heather is by my side, I can get through anything. She was so brave in telling you today... I didn't want to do it at first, at least, not now. But once she did I knew I had to be strong for her... for us."

The room grew quiet again, but it was the contented silence of friends who had just shared a special moment, one that would make them an even closer unit. The quiet was broken, almost predictably, by the giggling of the youngest and most excitable of the five, Amber.

"Alright, little sis, now what's so funny?!" asked Jennifer.

Amber stifled her giggles just enough to answer. "This is twice now in the last few weeks that Anita has done something that she thought would screw with one or all of us but is actually going to help us. It's like she secretly wants us to win!"

The others couldn't help but join Amber in laughter.

Kellie pulled them all together. "Listen everyone, what just happened here was very important, and I don't want to diminish that at all. But I have to be honest. I really hope that's the last of the personal drama for a while. We do have, shall we say, other pressing matters to attend to."

Jennifer, Sandra, Amber and Heather all nodded. "Don't worry, skip," Jennifer said with an air of determination. "We're in this thing to win it, all the way, more than ever!"

*******

He listened to her intently.

Brad was in bed with Kellie in the hotel room they were sharing for the week. While he had been able to spend time checking out the arena and other surroundings with other members of the travelling party, she was trying to wind down after what had been a long, emotionally exhausting yet ultimately satisfying day.

He had listened for the several minutes it took for Kellie to tell the whole story of what happened. He didn't speak or interrupt, just nodding at the right places and maintaining eye contact to ensure she knew he was carefully paying attention.

He let out a low whistle when she had finished. "Wow, that's a lot to take in all at once."

"Yeah," she replied. "What do you think of it all?"

Brad gave the matter some honest thought before speaking. "I think it's a good thing that they revealed their secret to you, for a lot of different reasons. It sucks that they were essentially forced into it and couldn't do it on their own time frame, but in the long run it's great for them and good for all of you."

Kellie nodded. "I never asked you this, probably because it never came up, but it feels important to know now. What do you think..."

"What do I think about gays and lesbians?" Brad finished the question for her, and waited for her to acknowledge that's what she wanted to know before answering. "I have honestly never thought about it. I haven't had to. Before now I've never known or met anyone who was gay or lesbian."

"And now that you do?"

He shrugged. "I don't think it makes them bad or otherwise not deserving of the same respect as straight people just because they are attracted to people of the same sex. You can't control who you fall in love with, right? So what if Jen and Heather are lovers? Why would I hate them just for that? It's kind of weird knowing people think like that, to tell you the truth."